Recently, distant memories have started to appear in my mind, like watching an old newsreel clip for the briefest time. They are always childhood memories, mere snapshots of when I was very young, little more than a toddler. As I don’t remember many specifics before I started school at the age of five, those earliest memories fascinate me. They show that memory starts much earlier than I had ever considered.
With the benefit of age, I can now place those memories in their time, in their part of my life. Perhaps growing older and being a reflective person makes them more interesting to me. I don’t know the answer, but I do enjoy those ‘time-travel’ momentary flashbacks.
Sometimes they appear as dreams, and at other times pop into my head as I am driving, or walking around with Ollie. They open a window onto my childhood that I had never previously experienced, and I see them as a blessing.
My dad is trying to light a coal fire on a very cold day. My mum is holding me, having wrapped me in a knitted blanket, and the smoke from the fire refusing to catch is coming out into the room. Dad is holding a newspaper across the fireplace, and my mum gets up to open the window slightly, hoping to let the smoke out of the room.
I am holding a wooden toy. I don’t know what toy it is, but I can feel the wood. My dad enters the room with a towel around his neck and looks down at me, smiling. I hold whatever it is up to him, showing it to him as if he has never seen it before.
Mum is singing to me. I don’t know the song, but I am enjoying listening to it. She is smoking a cigarette, and I am fascinated by the long ash at the end. It grows longer and longer, and I am sure it will fall onto the chair.
A warm day, probably at the seaside on holiday. Mum is holding me as we sit on a small fairground ride. We are astride a wooden animal, perhaps a horse, and the ride is rotating slowly. She tells me to look at my dad, and he has a camera to his face, taking our photo.
I am in the small back garden of my maternal grandparents’ house. My grandfather reaches out to stop me stumbling, taking my hand. He shows me a handful of runner beans he has just picked. I can smell the earth in the garden.
I hope I continue to get many more of these distant memories. I like them a lot.
Sounds interesting. You are changing to a virtual time traveller, Pete! 😉 xx Michael
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These have slowed down a lot now, but I do enjoy them when they appear.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Reblogged this on OPENED HERE >> https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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I can relate so much to what you wrote. Really enjoyed reading it.
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Thanks very much T.O.T.M.
Best wishes, Pete.
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So sweet!
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Thanks, Shaily. It feels as if my brain is opening up a window into my past.
Best wishes, Pete.
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These are delightful childhood memories. What a wonderful feeling it is when they suddenly come on. Lovely post, Pete.
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I consider myself blessed to suddenly start getting them, Jennie.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Indeed!
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Precious memories.
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They are indeed.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Nice post Pete. Curious how the interworkings of our mind decide what to present to our conscience. I also find it curious how a son’s relationship gets strained with our fathers in our teens, too.
Hoping your dad-son relationship got close again as time went on.
Cheers,
CT
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Thanks, Chris. I am getting more of these memory flashbacks on a daily basis now. Sorry to tell you, but things never did improve with my dad. Here’s the full story.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Great memories Pete 🙂
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This has been a strange time, Eddy. I have never been able to recall much before I was five, and now these baby/toddler flashbacks have started to arrive. It’s fascinating though.
Cheers, Pete.
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Memories are a good thing for most….but some have those of the horrors they have witnessed and those are usually stronger than others…..I like reading about yours…..keep up the good work my friend. chuq
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This is a new department openig up in my memory banks, chuq. Mostly good, very brief, and evocative with touch and smell. It feels as if I have gone back in time for very short periods. I am enjoying it.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Isn’t it nice that we remember the good old days?
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These are very early memories for me, Arlene. All when I was very young, and hardly walking. They are something new, and I am really enjoying them.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Fascinating collection of memories.
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They have just started to appear, Peggy. I am finding it fascinating, like looking at very short home-movie clips. Of course, we never owned a cine-camera back then, unfortunately.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Love your memories Pete. I don’t have many strong ones before 4 or 5 years of age. I do get glimpses on occasion like the ones you mentioned. It’s heartwarming. It seems you had family that treated you with love and care, I did too, I’m ever so grateful. Hugs, C
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My dad was very good to me, until I got into my teens. After that, he didn’t like me at all. These very early recollections are new to me, and I am enjoying those short revelations a great deal.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Great memories, Pete
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I am really enjoying them, Sue. Though I am interested in why they have suddenly started to appear.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Curious, isn’t it?
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Once I decided to exclude a brain tumour, I started to enjoy it! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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😄
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Better than the ones w3 are creating these days, Pete…
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Some of my recent ones are very nice too. Mainly because they involve good times with Ollie, and some nice old-fashioned holidays on the east coast. But I know what you mean. 🙂
I hope you are both well, dear ladies. I had my booster vaccination yesterday.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Glad to hear it, Pete…
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The fireplace and newspaper…that is familiar and also mother’s long cigarette ash! My Mum was the same.
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Glad you can remember that too, Carolyn.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Love the free-flowing style of writing! You sure know how to build the ambience with your writing.
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Thanks very much. I am happy that you enjoyed it.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote, “You must know that there is nothing higher and stronger and more wholesome and good for life in the future than some good memory, especially a memory of childhood, of home.” The Brothers Karamazov
You are fortunate to have these wonderful memories.
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Thanks, Darlene. They are something new, and quite wonderful
Best wishes, Pete.
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My childhood memories probably begin around the age of four, just before I started school. Even then I have hazy memories of my Nana who apparently lived with us for 6 months of the year!
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Mine used to start at age five, o the first day of school for me. Just lately, they are going a lot further back, and I am very happy to have them.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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Hey jude, I actually have a post “Some Childhood Memories” and a Son Named Jude.
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Hi Pete, what lovely memories. My dad says he can remember things from his toddlerhood too.
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I used the word says for my dad because I’ve never been sure if they are actually memories or things he was told about and now thinks are memories.
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It could be memories, or what I was told once. Either way, Robbie, they make me happy.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I enjoy the authenticity of a few very early memories that are not supported by photographs or any stories told by others. Like I can remember a few distinct moments of play with a younger brother who died right after I turned four. And I remember even earlier walking in on my grandmother in the bath tub and she told me that a “gentleman” does not do that.
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Those are nice memories to have, Geoff.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks for the memory da da da……
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My earliest memory I think, I say think because I don’t know if it’s an actual memory or something I’ve been told, is of going to see my grandad on his death bed at the age of three. I certainly can’t remember anything of my early childhood in the detail that you can. What an absolute gift to have those vivid early memories.
Angie
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Thanks, Angie. Although I have always vividly remembered my first day at school at the age of five, these more recent memories have come as a revelation to me. I am really enjoying them! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Memories are a wonderful way to time travel and better yet when they are all warm and pleasant. I have very few especially from the earliest days of my childhood.
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Until recently, my main memories began after I was five, and had started school. These new ones go much further back, and have really fascinated me, Susanne.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Nice to have good memories popping up.
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They have mostly been good, luckily. There were a couple of medical ones when I remembered being scared at the time. I will post some more of these soon, I’m enjoying them!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Lovely – and good you are making a note of those early memories as they come to you.
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They are easy for me to remember, Mary. Being accompanied by the sense of touch and smell makes them unforgettable. More to come.
Best wishes, Pete.
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It’s nice to remember the good moments in our lives…thanks for sharing Pete!
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They have mostly been very good flashbacks so far, John. I will post about some others soon.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Lovely! just wonderful! Many ore!
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Thanks very much, Pejj. I already have more to post about soon.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I have 2 or 3 that seem to want more work.
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Nostalgia ❤
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It is, and also very comforting, Nadine. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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He suddenly saw his life flash before his eyes…and yet he lived on!
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Well for now at least. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I love the way you pulled me into your memories. I felt like I was watching you experience them and that I too could smell the lit newspaper and the earth on the beans.
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Thanks, Pam. These are quite new to me, and very powerful. There may be more posts like this one to come.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I have often tried to see if I can recall my earliest memories. Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish if it is an actual memory or an amalgam of experiences. The first memory of a childhood home is more like looking at a photo album: I can see several rooms, but oddly not my bedroom. I think the basement walls were unfinished concrete. I was probably about 3 years old.
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I don’t consciously try to think back, Leon. These have just started to appear in my mind for no real reason.
I do remember my first day at school when I was five though. As if it happened yesterday.
Best wishes, Pete.
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My daughter can’t believe how many sharp memories I have of early childhood, she claims to not remember much. Now my younger son is living with me and remembering his dad he turns out to recall all our holidays – which were never to Disneyland, all in Britain including Norfolk. Ps I can still smell the peaches in my infant school friend’s back garden!
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Glad to hear you and your family are also experiencing this recall, Janet. I could always remember quite a lot from age five up, but these very early memories are something new to me.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Interesting. I wonder if this is a natural concomitant of age, as our brain gradually adjusts to changes in our bodies? I always consider that I have a very poor recall of my childhood, especially the earlier years, but perhaps a similar thing will happen to me? My dreams tend to be very erratic, but it will be worth trying to be more aware of what seem like actual memories; of course, this intention could actually produce them, but how accurate they might be is another matter! Cheers, Jon.
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I cannot guarantee that these are all genuine of course. They might well be a construct of my brain, for all I know. But they feel real, and because they contain senses like smell and touch, that makes them all the more fascinating to me, Jon.
Best wishes, Pete.
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how very lucky you are –
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No really bad ones yet, which is good. More to come.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Beautiful memories Pete. I am glad you have them. Xx
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Thanks, Lorraine. Most of them are good ones too. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete. x
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Great, Pete. I have some lovely ones too, but with my grandparents 😊
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